Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-02-13
DIAMOND MINING.
The Process by Which the Sparkling Gems
are Obtained-How the Value OF Dia-
monds in the Rough Is Judged.

nv " ~
monds in the Rough is Judged.
Omaha Republican,.
In an interview with a Republicans re-
porter J. &. Doolittle, of Colorado Springs,
who has spent many years in the diamond
fields of Africa, said: The process OF
mining for diamonds is much different 10
the ideas the people of America have OF
mining. 1t is not carried on rs similar
work would probably he done in this
country. They don't sink shafts and
honeycomb the bowels of the earth into
long tunnels and little chambers. Diamond
claims are most generally about 800 yards
square, and every inch of the dirt in that
space is dug up, carefully looked through
and then carried away. The richest stones
are found in a bed of clay about 200 feet
below the surface, but the earth from
the top down to the clay is studded more
or less with clusters, consequent that Is The
reason miners eXcavate their entire claim
instead of sinking shafts. The industry is
very expensive, therefore the men who do
the digging make very little money out of
it rs compared To the diamond merchants
and traders. They are the men who make
the fortunes. In answer TO u question he
admitted that natives were hired to do the
work, but rs a general rule they are so in
dOlent and unreliable that operations pro-
coed very slowly. Does il get hot in the
Mines Well, | should say. 1t would
roast the life out of a white man" When
the fields near Kimberley, in G~riqualand
West, were first discovered, an attempt was
made 10 work them with white men, but it
soon proved disastrous, and the operators
were compelled to employ native negroes,
Zulus and Basutos. They stood the heat
all right, but became such consummate
thieves that the claim owners lost consid-
cradle money through them for a long
time at first. They would conceal the
stones about their person and At night car
~ them ont. Finally n law was adopted
and put into force compelling the diggers
To work without clothing of any kind on
them. This for q time proved 10 he of lit
tie benefit, and the bosses were puzzled 10
find some scheme that they could use that
would prevent the robberies. 1t was dis
covered, after depriving the diggers of
their clothing, that they could conceal
stones between their toes, keep them there
all day and get away with them At night,
Now every mans feet are carefully exam
ined when he leaves the mines of an even
ing, and no more robberies are perpe-
trated."
When asked how miners Judged the
value of a diamond in the rough, Mr..
DOolittle replied that every firm kept n
supply OF alum on hand, and all specimens
are compared with Jumps of that material,
and the closer a stone resembles the color
OF alum the more valuable it is considered.
The stones, however, always have a pecul-
lar shape. They are either eight or ten
sided, run to a point. and one side of the
point is invariably flat. Nowadays the
product of these particular mines is sold nj
Kimberley, n town that has sprung
up near there, where many Len
don merchants have located. A
few diamond cutters have also opened
shops there and do a good business. The
market there is generally active, and
miners receive their own price; but that
is regulated by the customary opinion Of
those who claim 10 be- judges. Bat the
diamond cutter is only man who can Judge
the real value OF 4 stone. The miners 90
10 the dealers with their products divided
into two classes, and then they sell ut o.
tn l25 and rs high ~ 40 shillingS a stone.
The dealer who duys divides his purchases
into four classes, and generally pnts the
price up on the very best stones, so that he
realizes about double what he paid. by the
time u stone goes through the cutters
hands, is mounted and PLACED on the mar
ket, it has reached a figure six or eight
times larger than the miner realized. Mr..
DoOlittlc said that he was in Kimberley
when the great Rhode stone was found,
and a dealer there offered Mr.. Rhodes
CPS, 000 for halt interest in il, but he re-
fused TO accept the offer. The stone would
not bring that amount now, but its owner
has made u great deal of money of Of il
exhibiting it through Europe. The stone
is said TO he about the size of a hens egg.
Very often specimens that have every APP
pearance of being diamonds Of the first
water prove tn I've entirely worthless and
crumble 10 pieces in q very short time after
bginU pYunSrl tn The Air.